io LONDON TREES 



for why the Plane thrives so well in London. This 

 is, however, scarcely borne out by facts, as some 

 other trees which do not shed their bark and are 

 characterised by their rough foliage thrive equally 

 well, amongst which are the Ailanthus, Poplars of 

 several kinds, the Acacia, Mulberry, and others. The 

 bark of the Acacia remains intact for many years, and 

 being rough and deeply furrowed collects dust and 

 other atmospheric impurities in large quantities, so 

 much so, that seedlings of other trees frequently 

 spring from amongst the debris in nooks and crannies 

 of the stem. We question whether the leaf of any 

 hardy tree is rougher than that of the Mulberry. 



The Ailanthus thrives equally well with the Plane ; 

 indeed in certain confined East End districts, as by the 

 Church of St. Magnus the Martyr, at Billingsgate, it 

 has ousted the Plane, though both are growing under 

 exactly similar conditions and within a few yards of 

 each other. The power of certain trees to withstand 

 the chemical impurities of a town atmosphere is owing 

 largely to a hardy and robust constitution, but the 

 quality of the soil in which they are growing has its 

 effect ; and it is a well-known fact that the Plane is 

 not the best tree for planting in either Sheffield or 

 Manchester, where soil and other conditions are 

 different from those of London. 



Many of the London streets and squares have been 

 named after trees that grew in their close environ- 

 ment. Few, perhaps, know that the Seven Sisters 

 Road was named after a group of seven Elm trees 

 that stood till quite recently in this eastern border 

 of London. Then we have Lime Street and 

 Linden Avenue in abundance, Thornhill and Thorn- 

 town, Acacia Road in St. John's Wood, Beech Street in 



